Ten Naxalites including three women were killed in an encounter with security forces on the border of Narayanpur and Kanker districts of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday morning, state police said. This was a second major blow to the Naxalites within 15 days.
The site of Tuesday's encounter was 30 km south of Kalper village in Kanker where 29 Naxalites were killed in a gunfight with security forces on April 16, a senior police official said.
Two of the killed cadres were prima facie identified as Joganna and Vinay alias Ashok, both `divisional committee members' of Maoists, he said. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said his government was fighting strongly against Naxalism, while deputy CM and home minister Vijay Sharma termed the operation as a major success and also appealed to the Naxalites to come forward for talks and give up the path of violence.
The encounter took place around 6 am in the forest between Tekmeta and Kakur villages in Abhujmad area, a Naxalite stronghold, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation.
